U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in Manhattan put his imprimatur earlier today on a previously announced deal allowing Eastman Kodak to sell $527 million worth of imaging patents to a group of technology companies. The list includes Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Facebook, Research In Motion, and Samsung Electronics.

The patent sale is part of Kodak's strategy to emerge from bankruptcy. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in January 2012. A stipulation of a $950 million loan it received from Citigroup to remain afloat required it to sell off some of its intellectual property. However, the final price was a disappointment to the company, which acknowledged in a filing that its earlier estimate that the patents were worth as much $2.6 billion "was not achievable."

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Charles Cooper was an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years, working at CBSNews.com, the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet.
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